India-Pak cricket series cleared

A file photo of a India-Pakistan cricket match during ICC World Cup semi final in Mohali. Photo: Hindustan Times

Updated: Tue, Oct 30 2012. 07 49 PM IST

New Delhi: The home ministry on Tuesday cleared Pakistan cricket team’s tour of India for a limited-over series beginning 25 December and said that the government will provide foolproof security to the visiting team.

This was conveyed when a delegation of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) met union home secretary R. K. Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday, official sources said.

BCCI senior official and union minister Rajiv Shukla said that the Board delegation discussed with the home secretary about security and logistical issues.

“We have discussed all security aspects. The tour is on,” he told reporters in New Delhi.

Apart from the security issues, the home ministry also gives visa clearance to Pakistani spectators. Several top Pakistani dignitaries are expected to visit India to watch the cricket matches.

The series would comprise three ODIs and two Twenty20 Internationals between December 2012 and January 2013. The ODI matches are likely to be played in Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi and the Twenty20 games in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

In July, the BCCI had decided to resume cricketing ties with Pakistan by inviting the neighbouring country for a short series in December 2012-January 2013, to be sandwiched between the Test and ODI legs of the England team’s tour of India.

The arch-rivals have not played a bilateral series since Pakistan’s tour of India in 2007 after cricket ties were snapped following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.